Silicon germanium and germanium multigate and nanowire structures for logic and multilevel memory applications

ABSTRACT

A method to provide a transistor or memory cell structure. The method comprises: providing a substrate including a lower Si substrate and an insulating layer on the substrate; providing a first projection extending above the insulating layer, the first projection including an Si material and a Si1−xGex material; and exposing the first projection to preferential oxidation to yield a second projection including a center region comprising Ge/Si1−yGey and a covering region comprising SiO2 and enclosing the center region.

CROSS-REFERENCE TO RELATED APPLICATION

The present application is a continuation of application Ser. No.14/184,999 filed on Feb. 20, 2014 which is a continuation of applicationSer. No. 12/885,071 filed on Sep. 17, 2010, which is now U.S. Pat. No.8,722,478 issued on May 13, 2014, which is a division of applicationSer. No. 11/729,565 filed on Mar. 29, 2007, which is now U.S. Pat. No.7,821,061 issued on Oct. 26, 2010.

FIELD

Embodiments of the present invention relate generally to the field oftransistor fabrication. In particular, embodiments relate to transistorstructures having strained or nanowire channel regions.

BACKGROUND

Transistors and other devices are connected together to form circuits,such as very large scale integrated circuits, ultra-large scaleintegrated circuits, memory, and other types of circuits. When the sizeof transistors, for example, is reduced and device compaction isincreased, problems may arise concerning parasitic capacitance,off-state leakage, power consumption, and other characteristics of adevice. Semiconductors on insulator (SOI) structures have been proposedin an attempt to overcome some of these problems. However, SOIstructures generally have a high rate of defects, as it is difficult toproduce thin, uniform semiconductor layers in fabrication. Defectproblems in SOI structures include defects within a single wafer (e.g.,the thickness of a wafer differs at various points on the wafer) anddefects from wafer to wafer (e.g., an inconsistent mean silicon layerthickness among SOI wafers). As transistor devices are made smaller,channel length is generally reduced. Reduction in the channel lengthgenerally results in an increased device speed, as gate delay typicallydecreases. However, a number of side effects may arise when channellength is reduced. Such negative side effects may include, among others,increased off-state leakage current due to threshold voltage roll-off(e.g., short channel effects).

One way of increasing device speed is to use higher carrier mobilitysemiconductor materials to form the channel. Carrier mobility isgenerally a measure of the velocity at which carriers flow in asemiconductor material under an external unit electric field. In atransistor device, carrier mobility is a measure of the velocity atwhich carriers (e.g., electrons and holes) flow through or across adevice channel in an inversion layer. For example, higher carriermobility has been found in narrow bandgap materials that includegermanium (Ge). Germanium has electron and hole mobility of about 3900cm2/Vs and about 1900 cm2/Vs, respectively, which are higher than thatof electron and hole mobility of silicon, which are 1500 cm2/Vs and 450cm2/Vs, respectively.

However, disadvantageously, conventional methods of introducing strainin a non-planar transistor channel using recess etch/raised source/drainregions on free standing Si fins have proven difficult. In planartransistor structures, source/drain regions may be provided that have acrystalline material with lattice spacing larger than a lattice spacingof the channel, thus straining the channel. However, in the case of anon-planar transistor channel including a fin, the fin is free standing,and thus inducing the required amount of strain in the fin by virtue ofengineering the source/drain region lattice spacing has proven difficultif not impossible.

Another structure for employing a narrow bandgap material for anon-planar transistor is to form one or more nanowires to serve as thechannel region. Employing a nanowire as a channel of a transistor tendsto yield a transistor having a low power consumption, a high integrationdegree, a rapid response speed, etc. The semiconductor nanowireindicates a wire having a width of several nanometers to scores ofnanometers. However, the nano-technology for manufacturing thetransistor has not yet been sufficiently developed. Thus, the formation,assembly and alignment of nanowires according to the prior art hasproven difficult. According to the prior art, nanowires may be grown byway of CVD using catalytic nucleation sites for the nanowires. However,disadvantageously, growing nanowires as mentioned above results innanowire structures that grow randomly, and that, as a result, tend topresent random dimensions/placement.

The prior art fails to provide an effective and reliable method to forma strained or nanowire channel region adapted for use on a non-planartransistor.

BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS

FIG. 1 is a perspective view of a beginning structure from which atransistor structure may be formed according to a first and/or a secondmethod embodiment;

FIG. 2 is a cross sectional view of the structure of FIG. 1;

FIG. 3 is a cross sectional view of a structure defining a fin resultingfrom preferential oxidation of the structure of FIGS. 1/2;

FIG. 4 is a cross sectional view of a structure resulting from a removalfrom the structure of FIG. 3 of the covering region on the fin;

FIG. 5 is a cross sectional view of a structure defining a nanowireresulting from extended preferential oxidation of the structure of FIGS.1/2;

FIG. 6 is a cross-sectional view of a beginning structure from which atransistor/memory cell structure may be formed according to a thirdmethod embodiment;

FIG. 7 is a cross-sectional view of a structure resulting frompreferential oxidation of the structure of FIG. 6; and

FIG. 8 is a schematic view of an embodiment of a system incorporating astructure as depicted in either of FIGS. 4, 5 and 7.

For simplicity and clarity of illustration, elements in the drawingshave not necessarily been drawn to scale. For example, the dimensions ofsome of the elements may be exaggerated relative to other elements forclarity. Where considered appropriate, reference numerals have beenrepeated among the drawings to indicate corresponding or analogouselements.

DETAILED DESCRIPTION

In the following detailed description, a method to provide a transistoror memory cell structure is disclosed. Reference is made to theaccompanying drawings within which are shown, by way of illustration,specific embodiments by which the present invention may be practiced. Itis to be understood that other embodiments may exist and that otherstructural changes may be made without departing from the scope andspirit of the present invention.

The terms on, above, below, and adjacent as used herein refer to theposition of one element relative to other elements. As such, a firstelement disposed on, above, or below a second element may be directly incontact with the second element or it may include one or moreintervening elements. In addition, a first element disposed next to oradjacent a second element may be directly in contact with the secondelement or it may include one or more intervening elements. In addition,in the instant description, figures and/or elements may be referred toin the alternative. In such a case, for example where the descriptionrefers to FIGS. X/Y showing an element A/B, what is meant is that FIG. Xshows element A and FIG. Y shows element B. In addition, a “layer” asused herein may refer to a layer made of a single material, a layer madeof a mixture of different components, a layer made of varioussub-layers, each sub-layer also having the same definition of layer asset forth above.

Aspects of this and other embodiments will be discussed herein withrespect to FIGS. 1-8 below. The figures, however, should not be taken tobe limiting, as it is intended for the purpose of explanation andunderstanding. FIGS. 1-4 show fabrication stages for a transistorstructure including a Ge/Si1−yGey fin according to a first embodiment.By “Ge/Si1−yGey” what is meant in the context of the instant descriptionis a crystalline material including either substantially pure Ge, or acrystalline material including a Si1−yGey alloy. FIGS. 1, 2 and 5 showfabrication stages for a transistor structure including a Ge/Si1−yGeyfloating nanowire channel according to a second embodiment. FIGS. 6 and7 show fabrication stages for providing multi-level nanowires for amultilevel memory device, or as channels for a multilevel logic device,according to third embodiment. The figures are discussed in furtherdetail below.

FIGS. 1 and 2 show initial stages of fabrication of a transistoraccording to a first embodiment as shown in FIG. 4, and a secondembodiment as shown in FIG. 5. shown in FIG. 1. As shown in FIGS. 1 and2 by way of example, a method according to an embodiment includesproviding a substrate 102, including a lower Si substrate, for examplelower bulk Si substrate 104 upon which is formed in insulating layer106, such as a silicon dioxide film. A first projection 108 is formedabove insulating layer 106, the first projection including a Si material112 and a Si1−xGex material 114 as shown. For the embodiments of FIGS.1-5, the Si material 112 of the first projection 108 defines a Si fin111, and the Si1−xGex material 114 of the first projection 108 isdisposed on three sides of the exposed portion of the Si fin. Accordingto an embodiment, the Si1−xGex material 112 may be epitaxially grown onthe Si fin 111 only in pMOS regions in a well known manner. Optionally,a cap, such as a Si cap (not shown), can be grown in a conventionalmanner on top of the Si1−xGex material 112 as a sacrificial protectivelayer.

Referring next to FIG. 3, a method according to an embodiment includesexposing the projection 108 to preferential oxidation to yield a secondprojection 116 including a center region 118 and a covering region 120.In the shown embodiment, the center region 118 comprises a Ge/Si1−yGeyfin 122, and the covering region 120 comprises SiO2. Preferentialoxidation according to embodiments includes an oxidation process whereSi is predominantly consumed to form SiO2, and where Ge is pushed intothe center region 118 and interacts with the Si material 112 (FIG. 1) toform Ge/Si1−yGey, preferential oxidation therefore directly convertingthe first projection 108 into the second projection 124. In the stageshown in FIG. 3, where the contemplated end product for the structureincludes a multi-gate transistor (such as, for example, shown in FIG. 4described below) the preferential oxidation is performed until theGe/Si1−yGey forms a fin of a desired configuration and dimensions. Thepreferential oxidation parameters may be chosen according to applicationneeds, and may be empirically determined to arrive at the desiredGe/Si1−yGey fin, such as fin 122. A selection of process parameters forthe preferential oxidation would be a function of a number of factors,such as, for example, the desired dimensions and composition of the fin122, as would be recognized by one skilled in the art. For example, toobtain a pure crystalline Ge fin having a width of about 10 nm, anembodiment may involve using a Si fin 111 having a thickness of about 20nm, and a Si1−xGex material 114 having a thickness of about 20-40 nm andhaving a composition of about 10-20 atomic % to about 40 atomic % Ge.Where the fin 122 is desired to include a Si1−yGey material, theSi1−xGex material may have a lower atomic percentage of Ge, such as, forexample, less than about 20 atomic % Ge. Examples of temperature rangesfor preferential oxidation to yield the embodiment of FIG. 3 may includetemperatures between about 900 degrees Celsius to about 1100 degreesCelsius. Examples of oxidation time ranges may include oxidation timesbetween about 10 minutes and about 1 hour. The above-mentionedparameters are merely exemplary, however, and it is to be understoodthat embodiments encompass other parameters as would be within theknowledge of one skilled in the art.

As next seen in FIG. 4, according to a first embodiment, a methodcomprises selectively removing the covering region 120 of FIG. 3 toexpose the Ge/Si1−yGey fin 122. According to an embodiment, selectivelyremoving the covering region 120 may include exposing the coveringregion 120 to a wet etch, such as, for example, a HF wet etch or acombination of wet/dry etches, as would be readily recognized by oneskilled in the art. Removal of the covering region 120 yields atransistor structure 100 as shown, where the fin 122 includes auniaxially compressively strained Ge/Si1−yGey material as a result ofthe hetero-epitaxial coherency in the interface between the lower Sisubstrate 104 and the fin 122. The shown structure 100 in FIG. 3 isadapted for further processing according to known process flows to yielda multigate transistor by way of the formation thereon of a high k gatedielectric, a metal gate, spacers, source and drain contacts, isolationregions and interconnects as would be recognized by one skilled in theart.

FIG. 5 on the one hand, and 6 and 7 on the other hand, show stages forforming vertically stacked multilevel devices using preferentialoxidation according to respective second and third method embodiments.

Referring next to FIG. 5, according to a second embodiment, the exposureto preferential oxidation described with respect to FIG. 3 above may becontinued for a longer period of time such that a second projection 124includes a center region 126 and a covering region 128, where the centerregion 126 includes a floating Ge/Si1−yGey nanowire channel 130, and thecovering region 128 comprises an SiO2 insulation covering 129surrounding the floating nanowire channel 130 and electricallyinsulating the same. According to the method embodiment of FIG. 5, dueto the faceted growth of Si1−xGex on the sidewalls of the Si fin 111 ofFIG. 2, preferential oxidation may completely convert the bottomboundary of the Si fin 111 to SiO2, such that the Ge/Si1−yGey nanowirecore becomes floating in the second projection 124 and electricallyisolated inside the same, thus forming an insulated Ge nanowire channel.Optionally, according to the third method embodiment of FIG. 5, prior toprovision of the Si1−xGex layer 114 on the Si fin 111 (FIGS. 1 and 2), aportion of the Si fin may be anchored on both ends thereof in order tolater form source and drain contacts therefrom. Anchoring may involvemasking off, by way of hard mask, a portion of the Si fin 111 on bothends to prevent the epitaxial growth and oxidation of Si1−xGex thereon.After oxidation, the hard mask may be removed to allow the masked offportions to be later used as source and drain regions 114. In the stageshown in FIG. 5, where the contemplated end product for the structureincludes a nanowire transistor, the preferential oxidation is performeduntil the Ge/Si1−yGey forms a nanowire channel of a desiredconfiguration and dimensions. The preferential oxidation parameters maybe chosen according to application needs, and may be empiricallydetermined to arrive at the desired Ge/Si1−yGey nanowire channel, suchas nanowire channel 130. A selection of process parameters for thepreferential oxidation would be a function of a number of factors, suchas, for example, the desired dimensions and composition of the nanowire130, as would be recognized by one skilled in the art. For example, toproduce a nanowire having a diameter of between about 5 to about 50 nm,the structure of FIG. 1/2 may be exposed to preferential oxidation for atime between about 4 minutes to about 50 minutes. Exposure topreferential oxidation as depicted in FIG. 5 yields a transistorstructure 200 as shown, which structure 200 is adapted for furtherprocessing according to known process flows to yield a multigatetransistor by way of the formation thereon of a high k gate dielectric,a metal gate, spacers, source and drain contacts, isolation regions andinterconnects as would be recognized by one skilled in the art.

Referring now to FIGS. 6 and 7, stages of a third method embodiment areshown. These figures will be described in detail below.

In FIG. 6, according to the third method embodiment, providing a firstprojection includes growing a Si/Si1−xGex superlattice on the lower Sisubstrate 104 in a well known manner, and creating a Si/Si1−xGex fin 132from the superlattice, the first projection 133 including the fin 132.The Si/Si1−xGex superlattice may be grown, for example, by way ofblanket deposition of the interleaving Si and Si1−xGex layers, followedby etch back to provide the STI regions and the fin 132, followed bybackfilling with an oxide material at each side of the fin 132, followedby recessing of the oxide at the sides of the fin to arrive at thestructure shown in FIG. 6 including oxide layer 106. The superlatticefin 132 includes interleaving Si layers 134 and Si-xGex layers 136 asshown. Optionally, the fin 132 may be created by way of lithography in awell known manner.

Referring now to FIG. 7, according to the third method embodiment,exposing the first projection to preferential oxidation is effected toyield a structure 300 comprising a second projection 138 which includesa multilevel core structure, a center region 140 of which includes aplurality of center subregions 142 comprising respective floatingnanowires 144, and a covering region 146 of which includes a SiO2insulation covering 148 surrounding the nanowires 144 and electricallyinsulating each of the same. In such an instance, the nanowires retaintheir crystalline structure, while the SiO2 layers become the insulatinglayers of a multilevel transistor/memory cell. Where the contemplatedend product for the structure 300 shown in FIG. 7 is a multilevel memorycell, the interleaving SiO2 insulation covering 148 constitutes thetunnel oxide of the cell. Where, on the other hand, it is contemplatedthat the structure 300 of FIG. 7 result in an end product including amultilevel transistor, an embodiment contemplates removing the SiO2insulation covering 148, such as by way of using a wet etch or acombination of wet/dry etches. In such a case, a high k dielectric layerand a metal gate may be formed around each of the nanowires 144, andsource and drain contacts and interconnects may further be provided in awell known manner to form a transistor structure, where the nanowires144 would constitute nanowire channels. Thus, structure 300 of FIG. 7 isadapted to be further processed to provide either a multilevel memorydevice or a multilevel logic device according to application needs.

It is noted that, although the starting structure in FIGS. 1/2 to arriveat the embodiments of either of FIGS. 3/5 is a structure including abulk silicon substrate, the resulting structures are not so limited. Forexample, embodiments including within their scope the structure of FIG.3 that is situated on an insulator structure to yield a SOI device. Inaddition, the embodiment of FIG. 5 effectively provides a SOI structureby virtue of the presence of the SiO2 insulation covering 129.

A common structural feature between the embodiments of FIGS. 3, 5 and 7according to embodiments is the fact that, in all of those embodiments,is that both the center region and the interface between the centerregion and the covering region is a perfect crystal, that is, acrystalline material with substantially no dislocation defects. Inaddition, a common structural feature between the embodiments of FIGS. 5and 7 is the pointed region P of the lower bulk Si substrate 104 asshown. The pointed region P results in FIG. 5 from a separation of thenanowire channel 130 from the bulk Si substrate 104 during extendedpreferential oxidation, or, in FIG. 7, from a separation of the floatingnanowire 144 closest to the lower bulk Si substrate 104 from the lowerbulk Si substrate 104, such separation thus leaving the pointed region Pin its wake.

It is noted that, although the figures show a single second projectionextending above the insulating layer, embodiments are not so limited,and comprise within their scope the provision, on the same device, ofarrays of second projections each having any of the configurations ofFIGS. 3, 5 and/or 7 according to application needs.

Advantageously, embodiments provide a novel method of directlyconverting a Si fin region into one or more Ge/Si1−yGey regions whichmay be configured to serve as either transistor channels (either in theform of fins or in the form of single level or multi-level nanowires) ormemory cell nanowires. The Ge/Si1−yGey regions are advantageously morecompatible to mid gap work function metals with respect to Si. Methodembodiments provide structures that are advantageously adapted to beprocessed according to well known formation methods to createtransistors or memory cells according to application needs. Transistorsformed according to embodiments are further advantageously easilyintegratable with strain Si nMOS multigate transistors to form highperformance cMOS multigate transistors, and are advantageouslycompatible to well known high k/metal gate integration. In addition,advantageously, embodiments result in multigate and/or nanowirestructures that are self-aligned with respect to the STI regions, to theextent that those structures are brought into being from a structurethat is originally part of the underlying silicon layer as seen in FIG.2 or 6. Moreover, embodiments allow the provision of a SOI nanowirestructure (such as that shown in FIG. 5) that is self-aligned withoutthe need for the provision of expensive SOI underlying structures, tothe extent that embodiments allow the creation of a self-aligned oxidelayer (129 in FIG. 5) between the underlying silicon layer and thenanowire channel.

Referring to FIG. 8, there is illustrated one of many possible systems900 in which embodiments of the present invention may be used. In oneembodiment, the electronic assembly 1000 may include a transistorstructure such as any of structures 100, 200 or 300 of FIGS. 4, 5 and 7,respectively. Assembly 1000 may further include a microprocessor. In analternate embodiment, the electronic assembly 1000 may include anapplication specific IC (ASIC). Integrated circuits found in chipsets(e.g., graphics, sound, and control chipsets) may also be packaged inaccordance with embodiments of this invention.

For the embodiment depicted by FIG. 8, the system 900 may also include amain memory 1002, a graphics processor 1004, a mass storage device 1006,and/or an input/output module 1008 coupled to each other by way of a bus1010, as shown. Examples of the memory 1002 include but are not limitedto static random access memory (SRAM), non-Volatile memory (FLASH,EPROM), and dynamic random access memory (DRAM). Examples of the massstorage device 1006 include but are not limited to a hard disk drive, acompact disk drive (CD), a digital versatile disk drive (DVD), and soforth. Examples of the input/output module 1008 include but are notlimited to a keyboard, cursor control arrangements, a display, a networkinterface, and so forth. Examples of the bus 1010 include but are notlimited to a peripheral control interface (PCI) bus, and IndustryStandard Architecture (ISA) bus, and so forth. In various embodiments,the system 90 may be a wireless mobile phone, a personal digitalassistant, a pocket PC, a tablet PC, a notebook PC, a desktop computer,a set-top box, a media-center PC, a DVD player, and a server.

The various embodiments described above have been presented by way ofexample and not by way of limitation. Having thus described in detailembodiments of the present invention, it is understood that theinvention defined by the appended claims is not to be limited byparticular details set forth in the above description, as manyvariations thereof are possible without departing from the spirit orscope thereof.

What is claimed is:
 1. A method to form a microelectronic structure,comprising: providing a substrate including a lower Si substrate and aninsulating layer on the substrate; forming a projection on the substrateprojecting above the insulating layer comprising a plurality ofinterleaved Si1−xGex and Si layers; and oxidizing the projection to forma plurality of nanowires and an insulation covering, wherein theinsulation covering is a single structure surrounding each of theplurality of nanowires.
 2. The method of claim 1, wherein oxidizing theprojection comprises oxidizing the projection to form a plurality ofnanowires surrounded by a SiO2 insulation covering.
 3. The method ofclaim 1, wherein providing the substrate including a lower Si substrateand an insulating layer on the substrate and forming the projectioncomprises: providing a Si substrate; blanket depositing interleavedSi1−xGex and Si layers on the Si substrate; etching the interleavedSi1−xGex and Si layers and the Si substrate to from the projection andform recesses in the Si substrate; backfilling an insulation material atopposing side of the projection; and recessing the insulation materialto form the insulating layer.
 4. The method of claim 1, furthercomprising forming a nanowire transistor on the substrate comprising ahigh k gate dielectric, a metal gate, spacers, source and draincontacts, isolation regions and interconnects.
 5. The method of claim 4,further comprising forming a multilevel memory cell comprising a controlgate, spacers, source, and drain contacts and interconnects.